Maya almighty’s popularity on display in Lucknow

To assess how quickly Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) mobilises its workers in Uttar Pradesh, one should see footage and pictures of its protest in Lucknow on Thursday.  The BSP workers were protesting the derogatory remarks made by former Uttar Pradesh’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ex-vice-president Dayashankar Singh about Mayawati.

BSP’s blue was everywhere in Lucknow’s Hazratganj, where the protest took place. The party carefully chose the spot that has a statue of BR Ambedkar,  which is also a stone’s throw from the state BJP office, to kickstart its protest. Within minutes, Lucknow was thrown out of gear.

Though the permission for the protest was denied by Lucknow District Magistrate (DM) — Hazratganj is considered the heart of Lucknow and all the government offices, the state assembly, chief minister residence and governor house lie in close vicinity of it — Mayawati’s supporters gathered there anyway and made it their protest site.  “Usually due to traffic issues, public inconvenience and security concerns, we don’t give permission to protest at Hazratganj,” said the DM while talking to media.

The party gave a call for the protest late on Wednesday and within a span of a few hours, BSP supporters started gathering in Lucknow. At around 10am, thousands of protestors gathered at the Ambedkar statue and in the process, broke police barricades. The protestors burned Singh’s effigy and demanded his immediate arrest. Reacting to the number of her supporters gathering in Lucknow to mark their protest, Mayawati told the media, “To the underprivileged, I am like a devi (goddess). They are angry.”   Meanwhile, the UP police are reportedly raiding various hideouts of the expelled BJP leader who is yet to be apprehended.